Visions of London, Paris & Rome

When I think of Paris, I think of FASHION!  My spread for Lori's book doesn't really focus on a particular technique.  Here, I painted the page with Super Sparkle Lumiere paint which gave it a pearlescent finish.  I stamped the page to add some "french" touches like the chandelier and vintage birdcage.  Then I cut out fashion figures from cardstock and covered them with newsprint.  Now the fun begins--I created haute couture from my leftover scrapbook papers!  Of course no designer gown by moi would be complete without a little touch of bling!

Celestial Chunky Pages

I am so enjoying hosting our Sketchbook group's Chunky Page Swap!  This month, our theme was "celestial."  I think a few of the players struggled with this theme, but when the pages started rolling in, they were just beautiful!  I think because we have all known each other (on-line) for 1-2 years, everyone really brings their A-game to the table.  You can see each person's unique personality come through on the pages they create and these 4 x 4" pages are more like a gift to one another than just another swap.  Thank you, my Sketchbook Sisters for allowing me to be your hostess!

Tip-In Swap: Focus on Technique

I have been a member of the Altered Books group on Yahoo for a few years now.  I'm not terribly active on that group, but this month, one of the members offered to host a tip-in swap.  I thought it would be fun to participate.  Each player is asked to make ten pages using a particular technique.

For my tip-ins, I wanted to do a pulled paper technique.  This technique creates a grunge-like background.  I have done it before using a black, gray and silver palette.  The background colors for these pages were inspired by a recent Somerset Studio article that showcased a yummy palette consisting of purple, turquoise and mustard yellow. 

I began by choosing one color as my base color.  After that layer dried, I added splashes of a second color on top.  When that dried, I blended the first color over the second color.  Using the third color, I took bubble wrap and the rim of a paper dixie cup and stamped randomly over the pages for added texture.

Now for the pulled paper.  I took colored newpaper pages and tore them into long strips.  Then I applied gel medium to the painted page and adhered the strips of colored newspaper to the page.  After 1-3 minutes, I began to pull the paper strips off the page.  Some of the paper will stick to the page and some will come off.  If you want more paper to stick, you can leave it on a little while longer. If you want to remove some of the paper that has stuck to the page, you can dampen your finger and simply rub off the excess.

As you can see, I made one set of pages using yellow, another set using purple and a third set using turquoise as the primary color for some variation.  I thought I would like the purple the best, but when everything was said and done, I was drawn most to the turquoise blue pages, so that is the one I kept for myself!

The Seven Deadly Sins

I jumped at the opportunity to participate in a "Dark Side" altered book round robin.  This is a round robin where we are free to explore taboo topics that others may find disturbing or offensive.  I had a hardback copy of Anne Rice's book, Pandora and thought it would be perfect for this round.  I selected "The Seven Deadly Sins" as my theme.  I liked how the Seven Deadly Sins related to the legend of Pandora.

I wanted to provide an overview of the seven sins in the front of my book. I did this on a gel transfer (top picture).  For the next spread, I placed another gel transfer of an image of Pandora atop her box of evils onto one of the title pages.  On the opposite side, I included the story of Pandora (second picture).

To begin my book, I chose the sin of lust.  For my background, I used a "pulled-paper" technique.  The black, gray and silver color palette gives this spread a grungy, dirty feel.  I then cut out four hearts and painted them lipstick red (of course!)  I folded the hearts in halves, sewed them into the center of the background page and glued that into my book.  This created a seven page heart-shaped book within the book.  With the pages I had removed to thin out this book, I cut out phrases all relating to my lust theme and decorated the heart-shaped pages with them (last three pictures).

Parallel Paths & Universes

It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do for Lindsay's Parallel Paths & Universes book.  I decided I would do something with "The Twilight Zone."  I have always been fascinated by pop-ups and what they call "Origamic Architecture."  I found the pattern for this design in a book I have and thought it represented a parallel universe quite nicely.  I love how it folds flat and opens into a beautiful and surprising display.  Remember, the 58(!) parallel cuts have to be very precise in order to achieve this effect, so make sure to have a very sharp exacto knife on hand! 

Chunky Book Page Swap

I have the privilege of hosting a chunky book page swap for one of my on-line art groups (the Sketchbook Sisters).  We've had an average of 10 participants each round which means that each player creates ten similar or identical 4 x 4" pages interpreting the monthly theme.  Everyone sends me their completed pages and I re-distribute one page from every player to all the others.   You make ten pages and you receive ten different pages in return!

These are some pictures of the pages I made for our first two themes, "Music" and "Maps."

It's so much fun to receive your pages at the end of each round.  Just see how quickly our chunky books have grown after just two rounds!

Trying My Hand at Poetry Spools

I decided to try my hand at making these delightful poetry spools inspired by Kelli Nina Perkins for a Christmas grab bag exchange.  The tutorial can be found here:  http://ephemeralalchemy.blogspot.com/2010/02/thread-spool-poetry.html

What a fabulous way to use up all of my scraps of ribbon and trim!  Rather than creating random poetry however, I selected some favorite quotes for my thread spools.  Here are some of the quotes I used:

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined~Henry David Thoreau

Only those who see the invisible can do the impossible~Unknown

Minds must soar before people do~Unknown

Inspiration: Revelation a divine influence arouses feelings awakening creative vision

Say what you want about aging, it's still the only way to have old friends~Robert Brault

It takes a long time to grow an old friend~John Leonard

Sweet friendship refreshes the soul

True strength is delicate~Louise Nevelson